Many people today carry laptops to work on and access or store data. However, the laptop takes a while to power up because it must go through a complex set of operations to make sure all of its components are working properly. Also, the use life of a power source, such as, for example, a battery pack, is a major concern when using a laptop.
Therefore, some people have resorted to also carrying a personal data assistant (PDA) which powers up faster and has a longer battery life. Typically, people use another computer, such as their laptop, to back up the information stored on the PDA. However, the data capacity of a PDA is limited. The laptop, on the other hand, is capable of storing a lot more data than the PDA.
Currently, information is exchanged between a laptop and a PDA by, for example, synchronizing the data between the laptop and PDA. When the two computing units are synchronizing, however, all of the components that normally operate in a laptop are powered up. This is a waste of the power source of the laptop. Also, it may be desirable to retrieve or store data in other parts of the laptop that are not normally accessed during synchronization.
In an effort to save power, power saving modes have been used to power down the computing unit after a period of inactivity. There are known techniques for managing power consumption by powering down portions of the computing unit, e.g. display, hard drive, processor, etc. However, when a laptop wakes up or when it is synchronized with a PDA, all of the components of the laptop are activated.